Chapter 53 Endless reproduction of rats
“Mammy, I see. I will refrain from eating the midnight snacks.” He Danggui lowered her head in shame and whispered, “Actually I didn’t eat supper. When I saw the savory food at that time, I couldn’t help eating more. What’s more, the Fourth Sister is very kind to me. The food she sent to me was always a full-course meal, including chicken, duck, fish and meat. In addition, Dao He specially prepared the sweet soup for me. How hearty the meal was! I can’t be too grateful to the Fourth Sister!”
“A full-course meal? The sweet soup?” Mammy Tang beat her legs angrily, “Third Miss, you were silly to eat these things in the midnight! You ate breakfast and lunch in Madam Luo’s room every day. They are the best food in our mansion. Why are you still so greedy? Why didn’t you have dinner?”
Rebuked by Mammy Tang, He Danggui blinked her watery eyes frightenedly and explained while scratching herself, “You know my Grandma always preferred spicy food. Every dish on the table has a lot of peppers. She is so considerate that she lets me have a meal with her. And I am ashamed to refuse her and tell her that I could not eat spicy food and it will hurt my stomach. So, I dare not eat too much at breakfast and lunch. When it comes to dinner, I offended not only my Second Aunt, but also the manager of kitchen Aunt Wang when I complained to Grandma last time. Later, the kitchen didn’t send me dinner.”
“No dinner for you?” Mammy Tang asked incredulously, “It’s impossible! All the young ladies in our mansion have food expenses of 1.8 liang silver a day. Since the breakfast and lunch in your room have been canceled, you should have expenses of 1.8 liang silver for dinner. Even if you can’t eat much alone, you can also exchange some fresh milk tremella cubilose. Our mansion always follows this rule. How dare Wang Qi’s wife deduct your daily food expenses without authorization?”
He Danggui shook her head and defended Wang Qi’s wife kindly, “Aunt Wang didn’t do it without permission. In fact, it’s my fault. Last time, the Second Aunt was angry at Grandma’s room, and the next day, Aunt Wang sent me a hearty meal, making me surprised and uneasy. However, after eating, I found that it did not suit my appetite, so I asked the maid to take the meal back to the kitchen and reprocess it. Unexpectedly, my behavior offended Aunt Wang. She sent a person to tell me that if I couldn’t get used to the food from the kitchen, I could eat the food from the kitchenette in West Lateral court. The kitchen would discount food expenses of 62 liang silver which belonged to people in West Lateral court at the end of each month.”
Mammy Tang frowned and sighed, “Third Miss, did all the dishes be redone? No wonder Wang Qi’s wife would be angry. Her families have been cooking for generations and her two brothers are the chefs in the imperial kitchen of the imperial palace. Even if you don’t like those dishes, you should show respect to her. You have a kitchenette in West Lateral court. Why didn’t you re-cook them in your own kitchenette?”
He Danggui replied shamefacedly, “Mammy, there are somethings you don’t know. Shortly after I moved into West Lateral court, my kitchenette had a plague of rats, so it had not been used. It’s all my fault that I’m too stingy. I grew up in a farm and always thought that the production of food was difficult. So, I didn’t want to waste the dishes on the table. That’s why I let the maid get them cooked thoroughly before eating them again.”
“Cooked thoroughly before eating?!” Mammy Tang exclaimed, “Was the fish from the kitchen not cooked thoroughly?”
He Danggui nodded and recalled, “I found that all the fishes were raw after I took the seat. Aunt Liu, who came to deliver the dishes, said that eating some raw fish in spring could cure my illnesses. So, I ate a piece of fish, but I couldn’t stand the fishy smell and I vomited. Then I took a piece of fat hoof meat and bit it hard. I found that it was still raw and had bloody meat in it. I was so scared and cried out. So, I asked the maid to take it away and cook it thoroughly for me.”
Mammy Tang was shocked. Then she was very angry and scolded, “Wang Qi’s wife is really outrageous. Just because her husband runs a restaurant in Ming Shu Fang of Yangzhou City. She thinks her life is better than others’ and should bully the masters in Luo’s Mansion! However, since she had been willing to convert the regular meal cost into money for you, why didn’t you redecorate the kitchenette in West Lateral court and cook in it? What’s more, just now you said that there was a plague of rats in your kitchenette. It’s also strange. I have lived in the East Yard of Luo’s Family for nearly 40 years, but I haven’t heard of any plague. As far as I know, the servants in the mansion sprinkle the lime once every 3 days and spray the medicine once every 7 days. There are no insects or ants even in the servant’s kitchen, let alone the rats!”
He Danggui lowered her head and said plaintively, “My mother came to see me before she went to Sanqing Temple and wanted to give me a cheque of 200 liang, but I refused. At that time, I said to my mother that although I only came to Luo’s Mansion for few days, from Grandma to several uncles and aunts, they are very considerate to me. Where can I use so much money? Besides, I am young and have never learned how to keep my belongings. If I lose them, it would be troublesome! When my mother saw that I was determined not to accept it, she didn’t force me. Later, I offended Aunt Wang. For the first month, I couldn’t eat dinner, and the maids and mammies in my yard were also famished. Originally, I wanted to reuse the kitchenette, so I sent my maid to ask for some lime powder and insect killing medicine from Uncle Qiao, who was in charge of killing insects, and I wanted to sprinkle them in the kitchenette. But Uncle Qiao said that medicine was the public property. My Second Aunt in charge of the family is a careful person. She must ask about everything in person, so it was infeasible to ask for the medicine in private. Uncle Qiao asked me to go to Second Aunt to report the needed medicine and quantity. As long as Second Aunt agreed, he would send it to West Lateral court immediately. Alas! In this case…I didn’t clean up the kitchenette at the end.”
Mammy Tang frowned and asked, “How did that happen? Didn’t Second Mistress Luo even approve to give you these items?”
“Second Aunt promised at first,” He Danggui’s eyes were full of resentful tears. She lowered her head gently and said, “But when I went to Bao Qin Ge to find my Second Aunt, Nephew Wei also played there. When he heard that I wanted to clean up my kitchenette with lime and rat poison, he was immediately unhappy and cried to stop me. Finally, Second Aunt didn’t want to distress her grand-nephew, so she did not let Uncle Qiao give me the medicine.”
Mammy Tang had been stunned by so many anecdotes. Then she asked amazingly, “What did this have to do with Wei? What did he have to do with you cleaning out the kitchenette in your own yard? Why did he stop you?”
He Danggui raised a handkerchief to wipe the tears from the corner of her eyes and sneered in her heart, “In the previous life, everyone in Luo’s Family said that I was the most vengeful person and liked to inform secretly to Madam Luo. In fact, at that time, I was the clumsiest person in Luo’s Family, so I suffered a lot. Obviously, I had many reasons on my side, but I stammered and said nothing. Those who did not have reasons at all talked about the matters and argued unreasonably. In the end, the members of Luo’s Family commented on me uniformly that I was craven and mean. So, I must have followed the temper of my mother.”
Now because of Luo’s Family, He Danggui finally learned how to “inform secretly” and how to sue behind the scenes. In fact, the highest level of the complaint was “stringing sugar gourd” and pulling out the radish while bringing out the mud. When she finished this case, no one in Luo’s Mansion would be clean and not implicated.
He Danggui put down her handkerchief and sighed, “Nephew Wei wailed and said the gray rats in the kitchenette of West Lateral court were his toys. The Elder Sister-in-law refused him to feed them in Liu Li Tang since she was afraid that they would cause illnesses. Therefore, Nephew Wei wanted to choose a good place for them, and he chose the kitchenette of West Lateral court. However, He was just a 3 or 4-year-old child. He didn’t understand the most terrible thing about rats. It’s neither stealing rice nor infecting diseases... Alas, I’m really worried about the people in East Yard of Luo’s Family.”
Mammy Tang asked hurriedly, “What is Third Miss worrying about? What is the scariest thing about rats?”
He Danggui sneered sarcastically under the veil and replied quietly, “There are two most terrible things. One is reproduction, and the other is burrowing. My kitchenette was originally piled with a lot of rice and flour, and then they were contaminated by the rats and became dirty. So, I left them to the rats and locked the door. Thus, the kitchenette became the rats’ paradise. These rats have children and grandchildren and make many new holes. Then their grandchildren have children, and each child has several new holes... Alas, the consequences are unthinkable.”
Though Mammy Tang was an old mammy who had experienced many hardships, she still shuddered at the picture that He Danggui described.
He Danggui’s gentle voice was like a soft poison caressing a bone joint and echoed in the empty room, “Rats are natural thieves and carry diseases all over their bodies. Mammy Tang, you can imagine that a horde of horrible animals run through the yards of the mansion, steal Grandma’s lunch today, gnaw through the Second Sister’s dressing case the next day, bite Nephew Wei’s fingers then, and spread the diseases to food, water, even Second Aunt’s sweet well water in Bao Qin Ge after a few days...”
Mammy Tang’s eyes were wide open involuntarily, and a few drops of sweat appeared on her forehead even in this cold room which was like an icehouse.
He Danggui was so worried, “Mammy Tang, you know my Second Aunt is a very hospitable host. She often invites Misses and Childes of other mansions to join tea parties and poetry parties, and lets those Misses and Childes who like fresh and interesting things fetch water from the well by themselves to boil tea. Can you imagine what would happen if those Misses and Childes with high status eat something unclean or experience some bad things? Alas... If that’s the case, then Second Aunt really means well but does bad things. In addition, maybe the East Yard of Luo’s Family she represents will turn against the other big families.”
Mammy Tang said loudly, “Feuding with other families? That would not happen!”
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